On the Hamtramck-Detroit border, in the middle of Banglatown, rests a sprawling 1.5-acre green space teeming with vegetables, fruits and flowers. The 4-year-old Sylhet Farm has taken over what once was an empty parking lot filled with trash and needles. Now, the space has become a haven, a community gathering space - a third place not only for Bengalis, but for people of all backgrounds, who are finding commonality in the midst of looming garden trellises, neatly-spaced raised garden beds, and shaded picnic tables.
At Sylhet Farm, the garden gate doors are open from morning to sunset, not just to gardeners, but to anyone who finds refuge among cultural crops such as snake squash and amaranth,or more typical American staples such tomatoes and beans. This is the space for neighborhood teens to gather and create videos, for children and grandparents to admire crops from their home country and for students to experience their first summer jobs.
The founders
Sylhet Farms was just a vision for Akm Rahman, founder of the nonprofit Hope Center and the Masjid Fatimah mosque, when he first bought that empty parking lot. He knew it was destined for a community garden and met the fellow visionary he needed to make that happen in Daniel Schneider. Not far from a house Rahman owned, Schneider was working on his own small garden plot. Rahman asked Schneider for help getting the farm up and running. Later, the pair brought Rumana Rahman – no relation – on the team to manage the garden.
“It was a rough neighborhood,” Rahman recalls.”It was totally dead and there were a lot of crimes. But we reclaimed the neighborhood.”
As many neighborhood residents did, Rahman emigrated from Bangladesh’s Sylhet region. He moved to Hamtramck in 1982 and after 9/11, he founded the Hope Center to help fellow immigrants find jobs, learn English, purchase food and obtain other services. The Masjid Fatimah mosque is an inter-faith community, serving believers in monotheism and encouraging dialogue among different faith traditions.
“The whole neighborhood is full,” Schneider said of the change in the area surrounding Sylhet. “People tell us they bought homes here just to be near the farm.”
Schneider, also a nonprofit leader, serves on the board of One New Humanity, an organization that, in addition to Sylhet Farm, also provides services through a local thrift store, fitness and commercial classes and an indoor community space.
“Sylhet Farm attracts so many different people who probably would not otherwise come together,” Schneider said. “It’s a very neutral space and it encourages people to learn new things, ask questions and be creative.”
Rumana, a Detroit-area transplant from California, and before that, Bangladesh, first became involved in growing through a university-based community garden in California. Today, she volunteers as the Sylhet Farm community garden director.
“Hamtramck has one of the most diverse populations in the country,” she said. “But people don’t always interact. The Farm is a great place to be curious, ask questions, have conversations and get a different perspective.”
The first year that Sylhet Farm opened, Rahman hoped to have around 30 plots rented at $25 each. Instead, that number quickly grew to around 130. But for Rahman, the success of the Farm is about more than just plot numbers. The Farm’s diverse stakeholders themselves caused an important shift in the community.
“When we all come together, people of different ethnicities and nationalities, we see less crime and the neighborhood is safer,” he said. “Now we are coming together and watching out for each other.”
The gardeners
Ever since Sylhet Farm opened, gardening enthusiasts have lined up to rent a singular plot, or sometimes up to eight plots. And these gardeners return to the farm year after year.
One of the most dedicated – and thus, most recognizable – gardeners is Evalyn Patterson. Now 78, Patterson moved to the Detroit area from her southern home when she was 18. She also gardens at her home, which is located just down the street from the Farm – a hobby she picked up at just 5 years old. In addition to her home garden, she rented eight plots at the Farm this year. Her granddaughter and brother also have their own plots.
Like the Farm’s founders, Patterson was concerned about the safety of her community. Now, thanks in part to her duties of opening the Farm gate in the morning and locking it in the evening, Patterson is more than comfortable in the space she formerly called “filled with riff raff.”
“I’ve met a lot of people in the garden,” she said. “And I’ve learned from the other gardeners. I come by myself a lot. It helps to keep me calm and keep my mind right.”
Just a few rows down from Patterson’s many plots, Shopna Bedum tends her plants, including several from her home country of Bangladesh. Bedum, her three children and husband came to the United States so that her husband could finish his doctoral studies at Wayne State University.
Bedum has rented a garden plot for the last four years and her two oldest daughters, ages 16 and 12, now have their own plots. Her youngest, at 3, has grown up with the garden.
“I feel like it’s a community,” Bedum said. “My daughters feel like it’s home here. We’ve met lots of new friends.”
The Bedums will soon be moving out west, where Shopna’s husband has accepted a job teaching at a university. Although they will be leaving this month, Bedum’s daughters have said that they will always think of the garden as home.
Ryan Iseppi’s two plots are right at the entrance to the farm. Filled with flowers such as dahlias, zinnias and sunflowers, Iseppi’s space welcomes gardeners and guests with bright displays of color.
Despite being a relatively new grower, Iseppi always had an interest in the hobby thanks to his mother who was an avid gardener. A lifelong Detroit-area resident, Iseppi spent eight years living in Hamtramck.
“The atmosphere at the Farm puts people into a comfortable space,” he said. “Sometimes people aren’t sure how to interact with each other or how to make the first move. But having a place in common like this makes communication easier.”
Thanks to his time in the garden, Iseppi has made friends with many of the Bengali gardeners who have taught him how to garden with trellises and how to identity lamb’s quarters - a green that is often considered a weed in the United States, but is a staple food in other cultures.
A student at Trine University in Allen Park, Anika Bushra arrived in the United States from Bangladesh in 2023. This is her first year renting a plot at the Farm.
“In the summer, when we’re not in class, gardening is a good way to get outside and refresh our minds,” she said. “It’s a good way to spend time in the fresh air.”
Through her work in the garden, Bushra has enjoyed the opportunity to bond with those of other cultures. She also recognizes how important the Farm is for some of the neighborhood’s Muslim women, who don’t have as many opportunities or places to socialize.
“People come here to hang out and chat with their neighbors,” she said. “I see a lot of the women getting more confident. People here are very friendly and they take pride in their neighborhood. This garden is all of us – it’s part of us.”
Students and teachers
Omid Afghan is a 10th-grader from Hamtramck who immigrated to the United States with his family from Afghanistan three years ago. Both Omid and his brother Shams have worked at Sylhet Farm as part of the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT) program, a long-running city government initiative which provides summer employment opportunities for Detroit youth.
“I wanted to work at the Ffrm this summer instead of staying home,” Omid said. “I would just be doing nothing at home, but instead, I learned new things, like how to plant and build.”
Omid also made new friends in the group he worked with, which included four other students, all from different schools.
“I would work there again,” he said. “I met new people and I had fun.”
Middle school teacher Karl Tupas supervised Omid and the other GDYT students who worked at the Farm this summer. Tupas immigrated to the United States himself four years ago from the Philippines and now lives with his wife in Hamtramck.
“Omid is hardworking and talented,” Tupas said. “I only had to show him how to do something once and then he would be telling the rest of the group how to do it. He’s an awesome kid.”
Zoey Patrick, an 8th-grader from Detroit, also worked on Tupas’ GDYT team this summer. She spent her time building fences, weeding, paving and even growing her own watermelon and corn.
“I learned that I can do a lot of things I didn’t know I could do,” she said. “It was amazing and I had a lot of fun.”
Patrick made friends with the other students in her work group, including Omid, and stays in touch with them through the popular game, Roblox.
“I learned from a lot of people,” she said. “I didn’t think I would make new friends, but I met a lot of cool people.”
Tupas enjoyed working with Patrick as well. “Zoey learned and grew a lot and I know both her mom and I were proud of her.”
During the course of the six-week program, Tupas taught his students about farming as well as operating equipment like lawn mowers and tractors. Lessons also focused on social and emotional learning. Each week, students wrote self reflections and described how to apply what they learned to their everyday lives.
Tupas is not only a Hamtramck resident, teacher and GDYT instructor, he also rents a plot at the Farm.
“Being there is the highlight of my week,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to find ‘your people,’ but at the farm we have a connection. There’s power in community. If you develop a sense of community, unity always follows.”
The future
The current Sylhet Farm far exceeded Rahman’s original hopes when he first purchased the land. Now, his focus is on the future of the farm and surrounding community.
“I know we can do even better,” Rahman said. “We want to continue growing crops that can’t be found anywhere else. We want to build hoop houses, green houses and distribute food to people who need it.”
For more information on Sylhet Farm or to get involved, visit the website at https://www.onenewhumanitycdc.org/sylhetfarm.